Story Night
by Bookkbaby
Summary: HaoYoh, HoroRen. YAOI, Twincest. The weekly Story Night at Funbari Onsen becomes a bit more interesting when Hao tells a story of twin brothers.


Story Night

"- and so, the wolf and the golden-eyed dragon lived happily ever after." HoroHoro said. The words were followed by mild applause. The story had been good and everyone had enjoyed it, with the possible exception of Ren. The Chinese shaman was glaring daggers at the blue-haired Ainu.

"Was that an Ainu folktale too, HoroHoro-kun?" Faust asked.

The ice shaman glanced towards Ren for a moment before laughing sheepishly.

"Uh, I actually just made it up. Pretty good, huh?"

Story nights had become a ritual at the Funbari Onsen. After the Shaman Fight, most of their friends had come to work and live at the onsen and help make Anna's dream of becoming an inn hostess a reality.

Faust had stayed on as their doctor while Chocolove provided nightly entertainment. Ryu was their chef. Ren and HoroHoro traveled a lot, but they were spreading the news of the Funbari Onsen. Whenever the two were in town they stayed at the inn; it was a neat arrangement, and they certainly had enough room. While rebuilding, the group had put a few additions onto the inn.

Lyserg had chosen to return to England, but wrote often. His private investigation firm was small yet, but it was growing rapidly as news of the detective who could 'find anything, anywhere' spread.

Manta was a frequent visitor and participated in the Story Nights as often as his work schedule allowed him, as he was learning all the skills he'd need to become the owner of the Oyamada Company one day.

Anna, of course, ran the onsen while Yoh was her errand boy. The ghosts had all remained with their respective shamans, all having decided to wait until their shaman died before ascending to heaven.

Perhaps the only surprising addition to the weekly Story Night was Hao.

The frightfully powerful fire shaman had come to live with Yoh and the others in Funbari after being defeated by Yoh in the Shaman Fight. Hao hadn't asked; he had quietly followed them to the Inn. No one knew why he had come. Everyone had expected Hao to hold some sort of grudge, since Yoh had been responsible for ending Hao's dream of becoming Shaman King.

The others, upon seeing Hao standing in the doorway of the Inn, had reacted rather predictably. Almost everyone had immediately engaged their Oversoul, preparing for a fight.

Yoh had calmly walked over to Hao and asked if he would like a cup of tea, grinning. Yoh, it seemed, was ready to forgive Hao and extend a hand in friendship.

Hao had accepted and had stayed ever since. He usually sat in on the Story Night, but had never offered to contribute.

"Who's going next?" Chocolove asked.

To everyone's surprise, Hao spoke up.

"I am."

Yoh was the first to get over his surprise.

"Go ahead. I don't think anyone else asked to go after HoroHoro." he said, wearing his usual easy grin.

Hao smirked.

The others, as they had never before heard Hao tell a story, listened closely. No one was sure of what to expect; when Faust offered a tale, they were certain to get something macabre. Ryu normally told of a man finding his own Best Place in the world, normally in the heart of some adorable maiden. Ren commonly told Chinese fairy tales. Chocolove could be counted on for something funny and HoroHoro had told folktales up until tonight. Yoh and Anna rarely told stories, preferring to listen and only speaking when they knew a really good story. Manta told stories about the power of knowledge overcoming bigger and stronger foes. Whenever Lyserg enclosed a story with his frequent letters, it was always a mystery.

Amidamaru told tales of brave samurai and honor, about warriors who always chose to follow the code of bushido. Tokagero told of men who had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to eke out a living. Eliza told love stories, when she could be convinced to share. Bason told ancient Chinese tales.

Their stories all reflected their lives.

Hao, who had been reincarnated three times, had over 1000 years of memories, and up until recently had been their greatest enemy... what kind of tale would he tell?

"Long ago, there was a peaceful kingdom." Hao began. "The royal couple had recently given birth to children; twins."

The others exchanged curious glances. Somehow, this had not been what they had expected from Hao. It was shaping up to be some sort of a fairytale, though no one had ever heard of a tale with twins.

"There was a curse on the particular couple. Should they ever produce twins, one of the children would cause great disaster and only the other child would be able to prevent it. Unable to figure out which child to kill, they decided before the birth to kill both in order to prevent disaster."

Somehow, the tale seemed familiar.

Ren glanced between Hao and Yoh, wondering what the older of the two brothers was getting at.

Not everyone had figured out what Hao was basing his story on; HoroHoro still looked clueless, as did Ryu and Chocolove. Of the spirits, only Amidamaru seemed to have figured out who the tale was truly about.

"The night of their birth came, and as the first child, a boy, was about to be killed, he disappeared in a flash of fire. The child was already conscious and aware of what was happening, displaying an eerie intelligence. The second child, also a son, was born minutes later and from that moment on their fate was sealed."

Chocolove seemed to have picked up on the true meaning, now paying much closer attention to Hao as he spoke. Mic, in response to his master's mood, seemed to listen intently as well.

Ren's eyes flicked back to Yoh. The younger of the twins didn't seem perturbed by his brother's choice in stories.

A quick glance at Anna confirmed that she didn't care either.

"The king put out a notice that, should the baby who had disappeared be found, it was to be killed to prevent disaster. The king told his people of the prophecy, of the great calamity that would fall over the land if the child matured. The baby, sensing that no one would help it, lived by itself, hidden away from the rest of the world while it grew. At the same time, his twin was being trained to one day defeat him."

Ren could see Faust quietly explaining the tale to Eliza, as the female ghost had seemingly figured out that there was more to the story than the surface. Kororo seemed to know something was up as well, and looked almost frustrated with HoroHoro for not having figured it out yet.

"Bocchama-" Bason whispered. Ren nodded.

"I know; and yes it is." he replied under his breath.

"Finally, the day came when the two would meet for the first time. The older had cut off all of his emotions, isolating his heart behind a wall of ice and not trusting anyone. His only goal was to get the throne he was rightful heir of and remake the kingdom into a place where children would not be shunned or killed because of a prophecy. The younger had been trained his whole life, but was lazy and had a belief that good could be found in anyone's heart. His goal was not to kill the older child, but to melt the ice around his heart and save him."

Even HoroHoro and Ryu had picked up on the double meaning by now. Tokagero even seemed to realize it.

"At first, the task seemed hopeless and the wall of ice around the elder's heart too thick. Only after several clashes and meetings with the younger twin did the older one's heart begin to thaw."

It was... odd, Ren decided, hearing the story of the brothers in heavily condensed form. He wondered at Hao's reason for telling the story; every single person in the room already knew the tale, with all the details Hao was omitting from his story.

"They fought one final time over the throne. The older, after much hard work and effort by the younger, was finally defeated. The ice that had begun to thaw threatened to return, since his dream was shattered; he could never beat the younger, since his younger brother had surpassed him. The ice shield the older had built around his heart, however, shattered completely when the younger kissed him."

"What?!" HoroHoro shouted. He was the only one who seemed to have retained his ability to talk. Almost everyone else's mouth had dropped open, except-

Ren glanced over at Yoh, noticing the faint pink on the shaman's face and the sheepish tilt of his smile. Anna didn't seem surprised, or even angry.

"As I said, the ice shattered when the younger of the two kissed him." Hao replied. The response would have been casual if not for the definite smirk twisting the fire shaman's lips. "With tongue-"

"Hao!" Yoh interrupted, face turning a bit pinker, much to Hao's amusement. Yoh's tone wasn't angry or even embarrassed, despite his coloring. The way he said his brother's name was more a gentle reminder not to reveal too many details, making Ren wonder exactly what else the two had done.

The others in the room were studiously not looking at Yoh, except for Anna, who still had an unconcerned expression.

"So the older brother came to live with the younger. The younger brother had been engaged to a princess so that the line of succession could be assured, but spoke to the princess and broke off their engagement without the knowledge of the king and queen. The older brother, who had always desired power, had been so changed by the love of the younger that he gave up his quest for power. Since the king was growing old and a new king would be needed soon, the older decided to support the younger instead of making his own bid for power."

Ren supposed that explained why Hao was here and why Anna didn't seem surprised at Hao's little tale. She had already known.

"The two brothers lived quietly together until the end of their days." Hao finished.

There was quiet for a moment, everyone absorbing the information.

Anna was the first to speak, laughing dryly.

"I wouldn't say 'quietly'." she replied. "You've woken me up plenty of times with all the noise you two make."

"Anna!" Yoh said, voice pleading with her not to say more.

Hao just smirked, sliding closer to Yoh and putting an arm around his twin's waist.

"Yoh's just so loud-"

"Hao!" Yoh was well on his way to true embarrassment, which was an odd state for the usually laid back shaman.

Well, Ren supposed, having your twin brother and ex-fiancé discussing your sex life with said twin brother, in front of most of your closest friends, would entitle anyone to a bit of embarrassment.

"Why'd you tell that story?" Ryu asked. "I mean, it's great that Yoh-danna has a lover, but why tell us now?"

"Yes, why tell everyone now?" Amidamaru asked.

Hao surveyed the room, well aware he was the center of attention and enjoying it.

"If HoroHoro can tell the story about how he and Ren fell in love, I thought I could share with you the story of my dear otouto and me."

Ren could feel the eyes of everyone in the room turn to look at him. He, of course, turned to glare at the one person in the room trying to hide from his gaze.

"HoroHoro-"

The blue-haired shaman 'eep'd and started to scramble for the window. Ren leapt after him, tackling him to the ground. In his anger, he had completely forgotten about the others in the room.

"I knew you shouldn't have told that story!" he raged. He would have been punching HoroHoro if he hadn't thought it beneath his dignity.

The Ainu still flinched as though Ren were punching him.

"I didn't think they'd figure it out! I wasn't as obvious as Hao!"

"He told the story so everyone would figure it out and the man's a mind reader! Of course he'd figure it out, or did you forget!?"

By the deer-in-the-headlights look, Ren could tell that his crazy, stupid, adorable lover had, in fact, forgotten about Hao's little talent.

Ren was just about to yell some more at HoroHoro, but the clearing of a throat stopped him.

Anna was standing, which usually signaled the end of the Story Night. It also served to remind Ren that there were other people in the room, so he moved off his lover and crossed his arms, glaring at anyone who dared stare too long.

"Well, now that sharing time is over," Anna said. "- it's time for bed. Goodnight everyone; I'll see you tomorrow."

The owner of Funbari Onsen turned and left. One by one, the others filed out. Faust headed to his own room, followed by his dear Eliza. Bason, Mic, Amidamaru, Tokagero, and Kororo all went to their respective resting places. Chocolove exited, muttering about an idea he had just gotten for his comic show. Ryu headed to his own room with one last glance at the two couples left inside the Story Night meeting area.

Of the four left, Ren was the first to stand, glaring down at Hao. Hao just smiled back as though the glare was nothing to him.

"Good night." Ren said curtly, before turning on his heel and marching out of the room. HoroHoro stood, scrambling after his lover just in case Ren tried to lock him out of the bedroom for revealing the relationship they had kept a secret for over a year.

Neither Yoh nor Hao felt inclined to move just yet.

"That was a good story." Yoh said, moving closer and leaning against his brother.

"You're not angry." It was a statement, not a question. Hao could easily sense his brother's emotions; not to say he wouldn't have told the story, but he was glad he hadn't angered his twin.

"No, I'm not."

After another moment of enjoying each other's presence, Hao gently slid away from Yoh and stood. He offered the younger twin a hand.

"Shall we go to bed?" he asked.

Yoh grinned and accepted the help up, even though he didn't need it. It was the gesture that mattered.

"We probably should. Anna will expect us up early to help out."

As they headed out of the room, Hao placed a possessive hand on Yoh's hip.

"Yoh, I didn't ask so that we could rest." Hao said suggestively in his brother's ear. "The princess gets too much sleep, so every once in a while the princes have to keep her awake."

The End


End file.
